There’s a fascinating article in today’s Home section of the New York Times about forester-architect Roald Gunderson and partner Amelia Baxter and their company Whole Tree Architecture and Construction. Gunderson explains the structural, aesthetic and environmental benefits of building with whole trees. Photos and accounts of the projects they’ve built for themselves and local farmers are stunning.

Baxter, a one-time urban farmer, also runs a forest foraging CSA and grows an impressive amount of food in their 20 x 100-foot passive solar greenhouse.

We’re so impressed with the practical, affordable and simple life that they’ve created. Thanks for the inspiration!

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I’m not a smoker – but that’s not going to stop me from learning how to grow, cultivate, and enjoy some good nicotiana tabaccum. Last spring, bought a pack of Scherazi Tobacco seeds – an Iranian variety – and was able to get 1 plant to maturity.

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From planning your home to laying out garden beds, a long-time homesteader offers advice 20 years in the making. By Steve Maxwell

Wise plans are the most important thing you’ll ever have on your homestead. That’s because wisdom creates the framework within which good things happen. More than 20 years ago, I cut through a tumbledown wire fence at the edge of an empty pasture, rolled up my sleeves, and began applying a big homestead vision to a quiet piece of farmland and forest not far from the middle of nowhere (more specifically, 91 acres on Manitoulin Island in Ontario). My family and I have been blessed with plenty of success ever since, but looking back, I can also see how I could’ve done better if only I’d had more wisdom. What you’re reading now is the article I wish I’d read in May 1986….

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It’s always a good time for gift-giving, and we’re firm believers that handmade gifts are the most meaningful gifts – thanks for the inspiration!

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I stumbled upon this blog looking for a DIY toothpaste recipe and stayed for the lovely pictures, inspiring posts and the refreshing frankness of Tara – “…A wife. A mama. A spare-time poet. Aspiring Photographer. Frugal Environmentalist. Organic Gardener/Urban Homesteader. Massage Therapist. Revolutionist. Free-thinker. And just an all-around awesome chick.” And the keeper of the site.

Tara and her brood have been planning their escape from Las Vegas with a Five Year Plan that begins with an open-ended biofueled road trip. Particularly enchanting (while remaining pragmatic) are the sections on Simplicity, Food Not Lawns, and Creating.

They also might just have the best backyard critters ever – desert tortoises.

Oh, and here’s the toothpaste recipe. Thanks Tara!

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Big River Trailer from Wicked Delicate Films on Vimeo.

Following up on their Peabody-winning documentary King Corn, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis are back for a new adventure in America’s agribusiness underbelly. This time they’re following the runoff that leaves their acre of corn, on a journey that takes them from heartland cancer clusters to a hypoxic dead zone in the Gulf.

Visit bigriverfilm.com for more information.

What: Can-o-rama Preserves Exchange and Holiday Recipe Demo
Who: You, canner, preserver, enthusiast
When: Sunday, November 15th
Time: 1-5 pm
Location: A beautiful apartment overlooking Chinatown, on Hudson St – address will be confirmed once you confirm! 5 minute walk from South Station, 5 minute walk from Chinatown Orange Line. Free parking on street and nearby lots (expensive and crowded on Sundays!)
What you bring: 6 jars of something* you preserved yourself for exchange, preferably 6 of the same thing. And an extra to sample.

Demos: Yvette The Queen of the Pantry will show us how to make some delicious holiday condiments (yay). Is there something you’d like to share? If so, email me and I’ll add you to the list. I’m going to demo mustard.Anything goes as long as it is 1. in season and 2. festive!
Cost: $5 -suggested donation -  to defray cost of event (refreshments plus demo supplies). If you come on your own (and not in the company of  a preserver) and do not bring preserves, the suggested donation is $15 (and, sniff, you don’t get to bring home any preserves). If you are bringing preserves and a non-preserving friend/spouse/partner etc, you both pay $5 each. So bring some preserves to exchange.

To RSVP: Send an email to cakeandcommerce AT gmail  with your name, your guest(s) if any, and what you would like to demo (if you so desire). Also – if you don’t plan to be part of the exchange, let me know that too.

I’ll collect your suggested donation at the door on November 15th.

Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think would like to attend.

Can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to!

Also – if you would like to participate in this month’s canning challenge, the recipe and instructions are here: http://www.cakeandcommerce.com/cake_and_commerce/2009/10/canoorama-challenge-2.html

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A mini, portable and pretty salad garden! From The Kat’s Garden

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The slideshow of favorites includes humorous pragmatism (”If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you are not hungry.”) Some hard, absolute “should”s (”Never eat something that is pretending to be something else.”) And the spirituality of cooking (”You don’t get fat on food you pray over”.)

Coincidentally, the thoughtful folks at Butterfly Hill Farm in northeast Missouri were pondering their own criteria and shared it on their blog. It’s wonderfully insightful and inspiring.

Comments on Food by Glinda on Butterfly Hill Farm

Melanie and I had the experience of eating out in the past few days. And we came to the same conclusion. The Food that we ate came from Industrial Food Service: Factory Farms positioned long distances from our Plates. What we ate was a far cry from what we eat at the Farm.

When I think of the Special Banquet I attended, I would call the Food on my Styrofoam Plate and in between my Plastic Utensils something closer to a Food Model. It looked like Food. But it didn’t taste like Food. I am not even sure that it was Food. It seemed like a kind of Gruel or Plastic that might have been fed to a Prisoner who had no other choice.

As a result, Melanie and I pondered the criteria which have become a basis for the Food we eat on the Farm:

• Food should be eaten “in season”. That means Strawberries are consumed when they are ripe. We don’t eat a Tomato until we can find a ripe one in the Patch. Yes, we do preserve our Food. We can, freeze, dry, which extends access of the Food to beyond the Season.
• Food should come from Local Food Sources. The Food should be grown on the Soils where we Humans are at home. That means that we grow most of our Food right in our own Garden, which we have planted and tended with our own Hands. What we don’t grow in our Garden we get from Local Farmers. That especially applies to Meats.
• We eat Food which is Chemical Free; some call that Organic. We like to think of it as the way Nature intended for us to eat.
• We eat “Whole Foods”. We run far and fast from processed Foods. We find them absolutely gross and disgusting.
• We try not to eat Foods that have additives and preservatives. If we can’t pronounce it, we surely won’t have much of a Stomach for it either.
• We have substantially decreased our use of Refined Products, especially White Sugar and Flour. Refining has stripped these ingredients of their Nutrients. Why would we want to eat a Food with decreased Nutrients?
• We drink Filtered Water. Instead of Flavored Beverages, we show preference for Water.
• We prepare the Food ourselves. We intentionally put Loving Energy in the Food. We prepare the Food Mindfully. That means Food Preparation takes longer, but the rewards are worth the Wait.
• We try to eat Foods which have been grown on Healthy Soils. We focus our attention on building Healthy Soils. We are deeply concerned about what “we can give back”.
• When we eat out and we do on occasion, we pay attention to how we feel afterwards. Often we feel like “crap”. We have a yukky taste in our Mouths. Sometimes we have headaches and tummy aches.
• We freely express our Gratitude to all Beings who brought and offered this Food to us.
• We begin each meal with a Blessing.
• We believe that we have been given a Gift. That Gift is “Life”. With that kind of trust, we believe that we should treat our Bodies as the Gift they were intended.

We are deeply grateful that we are afforded the opportunity to eat the way we do. Doesn’t everyone eat like this?

Evidently, more and more of us are. Thank you Glinda, Richard and Melanie!

This week in Paris, Karl Lagerfeld created a barnyard scene for the Chanel fashion show. Lanky, flawless models romped in piles of straw – a surreal juxtaposition of high fashion and earthy utility. An carefully-aged post and beam barn – inspired by Marie Antoinette’s homestead of yore – was adorned with the twin ‘C’ logo of the fashion house.

From the New York Times:

“It’s back to the country,” Mr. Lagerfeld said afterward, noting that he had spent part of his childhood on a family farm, north of Hamburg, Germany.

Recently, Winston Flowers – a chi chi high-design florist in Boston was hired to create a rooftop vegetable garden as part of a luxury condominium building in a formerly industrial section of town. The real estate developer – too often the bane of artists, affordable neighborhoods and urban farmers alike – has now co-opted the trends in alternative urban agriculture and created a lush, edible landscape for the in-house restaurant chef – as well as the jet set.

From Winston landscape architect and the project’s Creative Director, Kate Kineen:

Since the building façade and terrace railings create very strong lines and angles both in plan and elevation, oversized Domani Zinc bowls were chosen to float within the terrace, rather than adding a competing rectilinear element.  Filled with apple trees, purple sage, golden marjoram, golden sage, lemon balm, parsley and strawberry plants, the bowls frame the outdoor living space.   In one bowl, a cable is stretched from the center of the bowl to the upper terrace above, proving a simple trellis for vining beans.  Foliage textures and fragrance resonate while providing an assortment of fresh edibles for the kitchen.

Lastly, a full-scale vegetable garden enhances the dining space. Utilizing harvestable plants with purple and chartreuse characteristics, a brightly patterned garden sets the background for the dining area.  Purple stems and fruit of eggplants are paired with bright green stalks of celery; deep green swiss chard is set next to dark, black-leaf hot peppers.  Other elements of the urban potager include basil, leeks, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, squash, tomatoes and pole beans.  Custom trellises made out of inexpensive stainless steel cables support both the beans and form contemporary tomato cages.

Skeptics could say that this is another case of commodifying what was once unique, affordable and special, or one could choose to fall on the side of optimism and say that this could lead to real change in the way we grow and distribute our food. Who knows? As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

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